Related papers: Long-Duration Autonomy for Small Rotorcraft UAS in…
This paper addresses the challenge of energy-constrained maritime monitoring networks by proposing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled integrated sensing, communication, powering and backhaul transmission scheme with a tailored…
The emergence of tethered drones represents a major advancement in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offering solutions to key limitations faced by traditional drones. This article explores the potential of tethered drones with a particular…
A fundamental capability for On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM) is inspection of the vehicle to be serviced, or the structure being assembled. This research assumes autonomous slewing to maintain situational awareness of…
QuadPlanes combine the range efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft with the maneuverability of multi-rotor platforms for long-range autonomous missions. In GPS-denied or cluttered urban environments, perception-based landing is vital for…
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have gained significant traction for their application in infrastructure inspections. However, considering the enormous scale and complex nature of infrastructure, automation is essential for improving the…
Autonomous planetary vehicles, also known as rovers, are small autonomous vehicles equipped with a variety of sensors used to perform exploration and experiments on a planet's surface. Rovers work in a partially unknown environment, with…
Autonomous navigation is needed for several robotics applications. In this paper we present an autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) system which purely relies on cost-effective and light-weight passive visual and inertial sensors to…
This article presents a detailed overview and assessment of contact-free UV light discharge systems (UVDS) needed to control the variable electric charge level of free-flying test masses which are part of high precision inertial sensors in…
This work introduces a cooperative inspection system designed to efficiently control and coordinate a team of distributed heterogeneous UAV agents for the inspection of 3D structures in cluttered, unknown spaces. Our proposed approach…
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aims to expand existing transportation networks in metropolitan areas by offering short flights either to transport passengers or cargo. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft powered by lithium-ion battery…
With recent advancements in industrial robots, educating students in new technologies and preparing them for the future is imperative. However, access to industrial robots for teaching poses challenges, such as the high cost of acquiring…
Autonomous landing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on maritime vessels is challenging due to the coupled motion of the vehicle and landing platform in open-sea conditions. This paper presents a reinforcement-learning-based approach for…
Fully autonomous mobile robots have a multitude of potential applications, but guaranteeing robust navigation performance remains an open research problem. For many tasks such as repeated infrastructure inspection, item delivery, or…
Nano-size drones hold enormous potential to explore unknown and complex environments. Their small size makes them agile and safe for operation close to humans and allows them to navigate through narrow spaces. However, their tiny size and…
Detect-And-Avoid (DAA) algorithms for unmanned air vehicles have industry standards called Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS), establishing criteria to check whether they can ensure safe separation for all plausible…
Due to its mobility and agility, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has emerged as a promising technology for various tasks, such as sensing, inspection and delivery. However, a typical UAV has limited energy storage and cannot fly a long…
The wide availability of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) electronics that can withstand Low Earth Orbit conditions has opened avenue for wide deployment of CubeSats and small-satellites. CubeSats thanks to their low developmental and launch…
This is a complementary document to the paper presented in [1], to provide more detailed proofs for some results. The main paper addresses the problem of trajectory tracking control of autonomous rotorcraft in operation scenarios where only…
UAVs have been widely used in visual inspections of buildings, bridges and other structures. In either outdoor autonomous or semi-autonomous flights missions strong GPS signal is vital for UAV to locate its own positions. However, strong…
As unmanned aerial systems (UASs) increasingly integrate into the US national airspace system, there is an increasing need to characterize how commercial and recreational UASs may encounter each other. To inform the development and…